Author(s): Steve Light

Picture Books

This book lets you enter a fascinating, ornately drawn cityscape and help a boy find his dragon while counting objects from hot dogs to traffic lights. In the heart of the city, among the taxis and towers, a small boy travels all over the town, searching for his dragon friend. Readers will certainly spot the glorious beast, plus an array of big-city landmarks and features they can count. Is the dragon taking the bus, or breathing his fiery breath below a busy street? Maybe he took a taxi to the zoo or is playing with the dogs in the park. Steve Light's masterful pen-and-ink illustrations, decorated with meticulous splashes of colour, elevate this counting book (numbers 1-20) to new heights - with brilliant flashes of humour. Steve Light's amazing skill with pen and ink is beautifully showcased here. It entertainingly incorporates a seek-and-find element (although finding the dragon isn't very difficult!) within a counting book - with both number word and numeral appearing on each spread. Unlike many counting books, this one goes from 1 to 20, making it suitable for slightly older children. The city setting is perfect for countable urban icons, which appear in colour amid the black-and-white illustrations...buses, taxis, manhole covers, books, bicycles and much more.